Blazing
by Giving.Coyote
Summary: Blaze was taken away from her sister and was thrown into an unfamiliar district where she meets Cato. She doesn't know it but he would be her lifeline when they both get put into The Hunger Games and in with that Blaze gets the surprise of a lifetime and wants nothing but blood after that. Cato/OC. Mature for language and some sexual content.
1. Preface

Sometimes it takes a while to wrap your head around what's happening, while it's happening. Well, it's been two years; they still have no clue what happened.

The grass was wet against their feet as they jogged to the house, weapons in hand, to escape the rain. 14, with little innocents, the twins had just finished their training session for the day and decided it was time to treat themselves to a game of target practice. The day had been long and restless, so taking this time to themselves was bliss.

Standing on the porch, covered from the rain, both stretched their arrows back as far as they could, and aimed at the center of the target that was set up at the other end of the yard. The arrow was released just as fast as it entered the bow and slammed straight into the center of the target. Satisfied with their aim they both smiled and reloaded their bows.

Training sessions for the two could last anywhere from 5 to 6 hours depending on whether Leland, their wonderful father, had a good or bad day. Their training consisted of, running, dodging, archery, knife throwing, and on lighter days, identifying plants. Lets say these twins were the two hardest worked teenagers in district 5. Though their district was power, they practiced everything but electrical appliances and stuck to their physical strength and battle strategy. Leland had trained the girls for the Hunger Games their whole life, though no one knew if either of them would be put into the Games.

Though they were twins they didn't look anything alike. Dawn, the softer and more gentle out of the twins, had long curly sandy brown hair that reached the middle of her back and Sapphire blue eyes, with smooth butter skin. She stood at a reasonable 5"5' and weighed 130 pounds. Blaze, the more mischievous out of the two, had soft apricot skin, striking silver eyes, and long wavy smokey black hair. She stood at 5"3' and weighed a nice 120 pounds.

Once their sheath was empty both girls turned to walk inside the house. That's when everything changed.

The peacekeepers were everywhere they turned, left and right, there was no way out. Leland and Twiddle stood and watched as their children were dragged down the porch and out into the rain.

"No!" Both twins yelled and held onto each others hands. The peacekeepers whipped and smacked and beat their hands to make them let go but nothing was working. With all their strength they ripped the twins' hands apart and carried the kicking and screaming girls away.


	2. Chop, Chop, Bag Boy

At 16 Blaze had been through enough for a lifetime, constantly reminding herself of who she was. Now she was a District Two girl, and she lived with a roommate - I guess you could call him - in a pretty decent apartment building. Cato, wasn't a bad guy but he also wasn't the kind you'd want to be your best friend either, - unless of course you were her - for instance, he had anger management issues, and bipolar disorder. Sometimes she swore he was on steroids or something.

Living in District Two wasn't so bad anymore since she got a job working in the square in town at the food market; she got discounted on food. Cato brought home fresh game every once and a while so that was a plus.

Ever since she was taken away from District Five, she still kept up her training daily and with a little help from Cato he was just like Leland; kicking her butt if she had done something wrong. Arrows and knife throwing were still her priorities in training and Cato didn't need to be there while she did those; she never missed.

District Two was, no doubt, more glam and socially equipped, than District Five. In Five it was all about power, though Leland had made it about weapons for her and her sister. Two had more people from the Capitol visit than any other District besides One. Maybe because they were Career districts? Or maybe to visit Victors Village, after all they had made friends from being in the Capitol so dam much. All she knew was that Two looked like a rainbow with all those colorful Capitol outfits prancing around.

The people in Two were, for the most part, decent and nice but every once and a while you'd run into an asshole. Blaze had made a few friends over the past two years, but only a few did she ever keep in touch with for a long period of time. Like her friend Magnolia, who she grew a custom to calling Maggie. Or like her friend Pilot, who she had met at the bakery just down the street when she had went to pick up muffins for dessert after hers and Cato's Sunday dinner. Though Pilot and Maggie were good friends she'd learned the hard way in her past not to let people get to close to her.

...***...

It was late evening, Blaze was cross-legged in the corner of the couch with fresh hot herbal tea in her hands and a blanket draped over her lap. She watched through the third story window of the apartment building out at Cato while he cut the air with his sword and than threw it at a target drawn on the tree. It landed perfectly in the bulls eye. She wondered if she was the only one watching him swing the sword around as if something worth killing was there in front of him. He was pushing himself too hard the past few months, because the reaping was just around the corner now. Next Friday someone they probably knew was going to get their name drawn from that stupid jar, and their life would be under the Capitol's control, as if it wasn't already.

He has no shoes on. He said 'Shoes just slow you down, I run faster without them'. This made her laugh at the time, she had no idea he was being serious. He had no shirt on, was wearing sport shorts, a leather glove on the hand he held the sword in, and his hair was wet with sweat. There was no denying that he was an attractive guy, but Blaze had barely even noticed. With the reaping on her mind it was hard for her to notice anything.

All the talk the past few days has been about the reaping and who was going to get picked. Hell people were already making bets and the tributes weren't even picked yet! Blaze had just kept to herself and though she had convinced everyone that she wasn't worried about it she secretly was having mental hear attacks and nightmares. The only person who knew about how she really felt was Cato; he had woken her up from many of her nightmares. It doesn't matter how fearless you act, everyone was scared of the reapings.

Blaze sighed and drank the last bit of her tea and draped the blanket over the back of the couch. She stood up and patted across the wooden floor and put her mug in the sink before taking Cato's wallet off the counter and putting it in her back pocket. He had left it there and asked her if when she was ready if she could go and get soup, crackers, cheese, and any fresh meat that she could cook for dinner that night before it got dark outside.

Blaze grabbed her house key and started toward the square in the middle of town. Walking there was never fun, usually Cato would be the one to walk there but Blaze insisted this time. Bums lined the edges of the street begging for a quarter or even a nickle but no one really had anything to spare with the Capitol's reign. There was the occasional bum that would run up to you and try and rob you or shake you until you gave, but Blaze never dealt with it; she would lay them out so fast they would get whiplash.

Ignoring the dirty, smelly people on the side of the road she kept a steady pace toward the square. The square was a very nice place to be in this town. It had big buildings and it smelt like good food, and had people from the Capitol making their way through. Most of the buildings were colored a baby blue and the others were either yellow or shades of pink. Some might call it a little piece of the Capitol away from home.

Blaze went for a store called Bailey's. They had almost anything you could buy though most people here couldn't afford to buy lots, but if you needed it they had it.

Blaze hurried and got what she needed and went to the check out, where Mills was waiting patiently for a customer.

"Chop, chop, bag boy." Blaze smiled at Mills and he smiled right back.

"I might just kick you out of the store," He started "but I can't kick pretty out." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. Mills was almost eighteen and he'd always had a small crush on Blaze, weather he wanted to admit it or not.

Blaze laughed. "Don't make me get a restraining order." She pointed a skinny finger at him.

Mills shook his light brown curls and gave her a pointed look. "You wouldn't because you'd miss me too much silly girl."

"You wish." She joked. Of course she'd miss his sarcasm and silly jokes.

He scoffed. "Please, Strawberry," He always called her that ever since she met him the first time she came here when she bought strawberries. "You couldn't go a day without seeing me."

Blaze rolled her eyes again. "I said chop chop bag boy!" She clapped her hands and than smiled at him. Mills rang up the last grocery and bagged everything for her. "Thank you." She smiled nicely while handing him the money.

"Don't be a stranger!" He called after her before she walked out the door pretending she didn't hear him. He just smiled.

Now she would be heading home. Back at home Cato had finally finished outside and was leaning against the counter, a glass of water in his hand and still shirtless.

"Awe, did you get dressed up for me?" Blaze joked and watched as his lips curled and he sarcastically laughed. Blaze placed the bag on the counter and tossed him his wallet. "I got chicken for dinner, I hope that's okay."

He nodded. "Yeah," He was never usually a talker. He liked to keep to himself mostly.

"Okay, than." It was a little passed eight O' clock when Blaze started on dinner and than a little past eight thirty when they started eating. After dinner Blaze had gone to bed followed by Cato after he had done the dishes. Both of them knew when they woke up it would just be another day closer to the reaping.


	3. I Don't Know What Happened

The reaping was tomorrow. Needless to say the district was in a depressed mode and very few people from the Capitol were wandering around in their colorful outfits. Blaze hadn't talked to Mills since their encounter at the store and didn't plan on it until after the reaping was over. Though she doubted her or Cato or any of her few friends would get drawn from the jar, she still knew there was a possibility and she'd rather not get any closer to them than she was. Of course Cato and her had to communicate, but on a very emotionless and simple level.

A little past six O' clock in the evening Blaze grabbed her bow and sheath of arrows and began to step out the door when Cato's voice stopped her.

"Where are you going?" His voice was soft but deep. Blaze turned to face him holding up her bow and smiling.

"Target practice in the square." She answered. Cato loved listening to her cottony voice, and he was sure he wasn't the only one in Two that liked her voice.

"Oh." He gave a tight-lipped smile and than walked to the cabinets to grab a cup. Blaze watched him the whole way.

"Yeah." She responded. Cato turned to look at her and they just looked at each other. Tomorrow Blaze could possibly lose the one person she'd finally grown to trust since she was 14. He stood there at 6"2', blond hair thrown around but neat, green eyes staring at her, and his mouth slightly opened. If she could choose, she'd volunteer for him, but she couldn't; she was a girl and can only volunteer for a girl.

He watched her black waves swish around her torso from the fan in the kitchen that was pointed in that direction. He knew there as a possibility he was going to lose her; she was his best friend. They were never really close but it was the closest he'd ever gotten to a person since he was 14. He swore he would never let anyone back into his life, but Blaze had gotten farther than he had expected. Right now she was all he had and he wasn't about to lose her.

"Do you mind if I come with you?" He wasn't demanding. She could easily say yes, but something in her wouldn't let her.

"Uh, n-no." She sputtered. "I don't mind." She finally shut the door and walked back into the kitchen. Cato nodded and walked into his room to grab his sword and a few extra knives in case Blaze wanted to practice that too. He grabbed the leather glove that Blaze had given to him last year for Christmas. He kept it under his pillow, it was his favorite thing besides the picture of him and his sister Maz.

At the Square there was a small place that very few people attended that was open for weaponry and target practice and whatever you could think of that could help you survive. It was small though, that's why few attended, with there being hundreds of these places that had even better services than this one. Though Blaze liked it. It was small and very few people were ever there unless it was a holiday; than nobody was there. This must have been a holiday. There was one other person there though they were leaving as Cato and Blaze had approached the small building. It was the day before the reaping, so more than likely people were in there houses, privately praying that their family was safe. The only ones out were, Cato, Blaze and those rare people who aren't eligible for the reapings and have no family or a heart.

Blaze shook her head and entered the small building. She always liked the smell of the place. There were plants that lined the walls and they blended their smells together and it reminded her of Five. How many plants grow around there and the numerous flowers her and Dawn would pick when they were little. The fields behind their house and the trees out front; It smelt just like it.

Taking a deep breath she smiled and than pulled an arrow out of her sheath and positioned it in the arrow. She closed her left eye lightly and pointed the arrow slightly above the bulls eye, just enough. She pulled the arrow back and than uncurled her fingers and watched as the arrow stabbed straight though the center.

Cato had always been amazed with her accuracy and how he has yet to see her miss once with a bow and arrow. Even when she was being distracted, it only took her a second to aim and shoot with complete accuracy. He could put a walnut on his head and wait for her to shoot without any worry of her missing. Her knife throwing was just about as accurate. He had seen her miss once when she had been mad and was practicing through anger but that's the only time.

Blaze had shot a few more times before eying Cato's belt of knives and listening to him chuckle. "Here." He handed her two knives, both bowies. She smiled at him and looked at her target with six arrows sticking out of the target in the same spot. She turned to the one next to it and tossed the throwing knife into the air, jumped catching it mid turn and at her highest point sent the knife straight into the target. She stared at it. She watched the knife fly into it and stick perfectly at least an inch and a half deep in the target.

_If that had been a human_, She thought.

Her breathing picked up slightly. She had done this her whole life, for what? Killing? Or was it pointless? Either way she didn't like it. She was so passionate about something that killed or something with no point. She thought about the reaping tomorrow.

_if I was picked_.. Just that was enough. _Would I do that to someone?_

She could imagine walking through the arena, and seeing a person, and without even thinking, would savagely murder that human being. A human that is someones child, or future parent, or sibling, or niece or nephew, or friend. What if it was someone she knew? Like if her and Cato were both put in the arena. Could she possibly lose herself so much that she would do such a thing to him? Or if someone she knew from Five was in the games? Could she murder a 12 year-old if needed? And if she didn't do all of this, could she possibly survive?

She had no idea she was on her hands and knees holding her chest with her left hand until Cato had his arms around her. She could feel it coming, though that last time she had vomited was when she was 14. She tried holding it in as much as she could, but the more she tried, the harder and more it wanted to come out. It was like a monster was breaking free from her stomach. It was painful but the monster reseeded back into her stomach before coming out. She gasped and choked on air and her own spit while Cato held her to his chest, mostly to keep her from hitting her head on anything. He twisted her hair behind her head and over one of her shoulders when she began to cry. She buried her face in his chest, soaking his shirt. He just rubbed the back of her head.

After an hour of crying she realized she was on Cato's lap on the floor and she stood up. She looked at his shirt and quickly apologized for making it so wet.

"Don't worry," He shook it off. He wanted to ask her why she has broke down so suddenly, but it came to him while they were on the floor. He had done the same thing; bottled his feelings up so much until they all come out at once, and to make matters worse the reaping is tomorrow.

Blaze took a heavy breath. "I don't know what happened." She did, but it wasn't as if she hadn't felt that way before. Why would she react so differently this time?

_I'm Blaze Shadow. I'm 16 now. I have a sister.. Somewhere, but Cato was all I had. _She reminded herself.

Tomorrow was the reaping. She would need every ounce of mental strength she had to make it through the night.

**So I uploaded the first few chapters to get this story restarted. I posted a few chapters of this story a while ago but Fanfiction deleted them. I have the story finished so I thought, why not just redo it? Anyway, review for more updates(: I know it's a little boring now but I promise it will get heeps more interesting. Thanks.**


End file.
